Winding of continuous strands

ABSTRACT

An apparatus for producing, by a continuous winding process, a rosette coil within a container, including a capstan device for drawing the wire continuously from a supply and feeding it to a rotary tubular flyer which depends from a position below the capstan and is downwardly, outwardly and rearwardly formed in its end region so as to eject wire to be coiled from its end in such a manner that it has a component of movement rearwardly relative to the direction of rotation of the flyer and downwardly to form convolutions arranged to fall into a container; the flyer terminating at a radial distance from the axis of rotation of the flyer smaller than the mean radius of the coil to be formed. In order to assist feeding of the wire through the flyer fluid flow means may be employed.

United States Patent Schofield 51 Mar. 7, 1972 [54] WINDING 0FCONTINUOUS STRANDS 3,069,108 12/1962 Dean et al ..242/82 3,270,9779/1966 Tillou ....242/82 [72] smile, p'estwlch 3,061,893 1 1/1962Naegeli ..242/s2 England 731 Assignee: General Engineering Company(Radcliffe) Primary Examiner-George F. Maw

Limited Assistant Examiner-Gregory A. Walters Attorney-Harry C. Bierman,Jordan B. Bierrnan and Bierman [22] F1led: Oct. 21, 1969 & Bierman 2l Al. N 871 996 1 pp [57 ABSTRACT Application Data An apparatus forproducing, by a continuous winding process, [63] Continuation-impart f SN 748,347,v J l 29 a rosette coil within a container, including acapstan device for 19 g abandone drawing the wire continuously from asupply and feeding it to a rotary tubular flyer which depends from aposition below the [52] us. c1. ..242/82, 242/83 capstan and isdownwardly. outwardly and rearwardly formed 5 [11L C| in its end regionso as to eject wire to be coiled from its end in 581 Field of Search..242/82, 83, 128 such a manner that it has wardly relative to thedirection of rotation of the flyer and 56 R f cud downwardly to formconvolutions arranged to fall into a con- 1 e erences l tainer; theflyer terminating at a radial distance from the axis UNITED STATESPATENTS of rotation of the flyer smaller than the mean radius of thecoil to be formed. In order to assist feeding of the wire through the334,453 1/1886 Morgan ..242/ 82 X flyer fluid flow means may beemployed. 2,757,880 8/1956 DeLaMotte ..242/78.7 3,013,742 12/1961Bittman ..242/83 15 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures l I I 1 I f ,18a

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WINDING OF CONTINUOUS STRANDS This application is a continuation in partof my copending application No. 748,347 filed 29th July 1968, nowabandoned and entitled IMPROVEMENTS IN OR RELATING TO THE WINDING OFCONTINUOUS STRANDS.

This invention relates to the winding of continuous strands, theexpression winding" being used to include coiling into a container aswell as wrapping on to a core, and the expression strand" being used todefine a wire, filament or thread of at least one material, for example,a bare or coated wire.

The invention is particularly, but not exclusively applicable to themanufacture of wire conductors for the electrical industry, and to thepractice of rosette coiling of the wire into a pack prior to some otheroperation such as twinning.

Most of the present methods of, and apparatus for, rosette coilinginclude an internal or external coil forming device which is locatedwith the upper end of a container of annular capacity, so that thestrand is formed into coils therein with relative progression so thatthe coils fall in angularly spaced disposition, i.e., not immediately ontop of each other, hence the expression rosette coiling. In the majorityof known methods and apparatus it is required mechanically to place thestrand into its convolutions through a nip" of some kind, i.e., thestrand passes between a roller or belt and guide track therefor, toplace it into its coiled form prior to entering as such into thecontainer.

One problem with the known forms of apparatus referred to above is thelineal speed limitation for one reason or another as is well known tousers of such apparatus, coupled with wear of parts in particular at thenip feed, and possible damage to the strand. Factors of inertia andbalance also introduce problems with such known apparatus.

A further problem with known machines is to generate sufficient momentumin the strand by centrifugal force as opposed to mechanical placing ofthe strand to ensure that the strand, as it leaves the coil formingdevice is tensioned sufficiently to prevent bulking or tangling beforeformation into a rosette coil in a can or before winding on to a core.

The object of the present invention is to provide an improved method ofand means for winding a strand as above defined.

One aspect of the invention comprises the method of winding a strand asherein defined comprising the step of positively feeding the strand to adriven rotary flyer so constructed as to throw the wire centrifugallyinto the required coil form.

The method may be characterized further by the step of employing fluidflow means associated with the flyer and arranged so as to tension thestrand as it leaves the flyer.

According to a further aspect of the invention apparatus for winding astrand as herein defined comprises a means for delivering the wire at apredetermined lineal speed, a flyer consisting of a tube arranged toreceive the wire tangentially from the delivery means and having adelivery end so bent as to eject the wire centrifugally therefrom, meansfor driving the flyer and thus causing the strand, as it is ejected fromthe flyer to form into convolutions from which they may fall freely intoa container.

The apparatus aforesaid may be further characterized by means forrelatively moving the container in a circular path in such manner as topack the convolutions in rosette form.

In one form the relative circular motion of the container is achieved byso mounting the container on a base member as to cause its longitudinalaxis to perform a circular orbital path around the axis of rotation ofthe flyer; conversely the container may be mounted on the base memberfor rotation about its own longitudinal axis, in which case thecontainer axis and the axis of rotation of the flyer are spaced apartand the container thus rotates eccentrically relative to the axis ofrotation of the flyer.

The invention will be described further by way of example only withreference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of an apparatus made in accordance with theinvention,

FIG. 2 is a front elevation of the apparatus of FIG. 1, and

FIG. 3 is a detail part sectional view of the apparatus of FIGS. 1 and 2showing a modification to enable fluid flow means to be used.

FIG. 4 is a plan view partly in section along line 4-4 of FIG. 5, and

FIG. 5 is a side elevation along line 5-5 of FIG. 4.

As shown in the drawings the apparatus comprises a strand feederconsisting of a wheel 10 driven by an electric motor 11 and variablespeed gear 12, through a first driving belt 13, a driving shaft 14,driving belt 15 and bevel gear box 16. The belt 15 also drives a pulley17 which latter is mounted upon, and therefore drives a flyer l8hereinafter referred to. Complementary to the wheel I0 is a belt 19arranged over pulleys 20, 21 (see FIG. 2) so that the belt 19 embracesapproximately degrees of the capstan. If desired there may be providedan additional pulley so that the belt 19 can embrace any desired angleof the wheel 10.

A strand (for example a wire) 22 fed from any suitable source such asawire drawing machine, or extrusion line (not shown) is fed to the wheel10 tangentially through a guide 23 mounted on the machine frame 24 andleaves it in vertical direction also tangentially of the wheel 10. Thebelt 19 and the wheel 10 act as a capstan and draw the wire 22 from itssource and delivers it after the nip at the required linear speed.

Adjacent to the wheel 10 is a fixed guide tube 25, the mounting ofwhich, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, may be directly onto the machine frameby means of a bracket 26. The tube 25 is arranged with its axistangential to the wheel 10 and with its entry end 260 suitably chamferedto enable it to be located in close proximity to the point at which thebelt 19 leaves the wheel 10. Below the fixed tube 25 is a tubular flyer18, the upper end of which is located immediately adjacent to the lowerend of the guide tube 25. The flyer 18 is bent through an angle of aboutin the vertical plane. In order to ensure that end 18b of the flyer l8trails the tube, it is additionally bent so that end 18b is directed atan angle of about 25 to a radius extending from the axis of rotation ofthe flyer to the center of end 18b of the flyer. The end of the flyertube is located approximately at half the radius of the required wirecoil radius. A similarly bent balance tube 18a is provided. The flyerand balance tube are located at diametrically opposed positions on abell-shaped member 27 hereinafter referred to. Alternatively, and asindicated in FIG. 5 counterweight 48 may be provided in place of thebalance tube.

A ring 28 may be provided and supported by a part 29 of the machineframe in such position as to deflect, if necessary, the wire 22 as itemerges from the rotating flyer 18 so as to prevent it from fallingoutside a receiving container 30. In order to form a rosette coilassembly within the container 30 the latter may be slowly rotated bodilyin such a manner that its longitudinal axis orbits about a line throughthe axis of rotation of the flyer 18 so as to effect angular progressionof deposition of the convolutions. Alternatively, the container may berotated about its own axis and in such a case the container axis wouldbe noncoincident with the flyer axis and thus the container would rotateeccentrically relative to the flyer axis. Within the container 30 is acentrally disposed post 31 about which the convolutions of the rosettecoil are formed. The container 30 when mounted with its axisnoncoincident with the flyer axis (as shown in FIG. 1), is removablycarried on a rotatable platform 32 which latter is slowly rotated via abelt drive connection 34 and reduction gear 35 from the motor 11. Inthis case the amount by which the axis of the container is offset isvery small (for example, about 1 inch). As shown in FIG. 1 the rotatableplatform 32 is shown in a retracted position and thus there is no driveto the container 30. This is the position assumed by the platform 32when a change of container 30 is being made. When the container 30 is tobe rotated during wire coiling the platform 32 is raised to carry thecontainer 30 and thus rotate it. i

In operation, the strand, such as a wire, bare or coated, is positivelyfed between the wheel 10 and belt 19 to the fixed guide 25, leaving thewheel 10 tangentially and is finally ejected by the flyer 18 bycentrifugal force and its generated momentum to fall into the container30 either with or without contacting the inner wall of the impact ring28. Due to the configuration of the flyer tube and the rotation thereofthe wire falls into the container 30 in coiled form so that the coilformation is freely generated as distinct from being positivelygenerated by the rotating guide means of the kind to which reference hasbeen made by way of an indication of the manner in which most coilinghas been carried out in the past.

It is possible to produce nontangling coils of wire using the principlesof flyer tube construction set out above for any types of wire but itshould be borne in mind that in view of the vast range of physicalproperties of wires it will be necessary in some cases to vary theactual form of the flyer tube. Having ascertained that the tubeconfiguration is of prime importance in forming non tangling coils, ithas been determined that for any specific form of tube a range of wiretypes can be coiled and, by way of example only, it is found that adownward inclination of the tube end of to 30' combined with a rearwardinclination of 25 and a ratio of 0.4-0.6 to l of the circumference ofthe circle described by the tube and to the circumference of the coilgives a highly acceptable result and enables a wire of the kind referredto below to be coiled at the speeds mentioned. The most preferreddownward inclination is about 30 and the most preferred ratio is about0.57 to 1. Clearly for greatly different wires and coil sizes it may benecessary to alter the angles and the ratio set out above but the sameprinciple of formation of the tube would still be followed.

The impact ring 28 when provided is formed with an internal taper ofabout 5 degrees from the vertical but this may be varied accordingly ifdesired. The curvature and included angle of the flyer 18 may be variedfrom that shown.

Other forms of wire feed than the belt and wheel arrangement described,may be used as, for example, the known fleeter capstan so arranged as todeliver the strand axially to the receiving end of the flyer 18.

It has been found experimentally that a covered electric wire of 0.020copper covered to 0.036 with polyethylene could be coiled into a pack ata lineal speed of the order of 7,000 feet per minute as distinct fromthe previous maximum of the order of 4,000 feet per minute.

In some cases it may be found to be advantageous to employ fluid flowmeans at the wire guide so that the wire can be tensioned in the guide.To achieve this the modification shown in FIG. 3 is used, and in thiscase as shown the mounting boss for the tube 25 is built-up of sections.As shown the boss 36 is constructed with an outer cap 37 and an innercore 38 in which are formed three equally spaced convergent jets 39directed into the bore 40 of the core 38 at an angle of 30 degrees toits axis and in the direction of travel of the wire. As applied toinsulated electrical conductor wire such as that coated withpolyethylene and which will subsequently undergo a water test forinsulation, either air or water may be supplied to the jets 39. Theupper end of the inner core 38 is smaller than the remaining portionthereof so that an annular chamber 41 is provided at the upper end ofthe jets 39 and the outer cap 37 is ported for the supply to thischamber of the fluid to be used. As can also be seen from FIG. 3 thetube 25 and its mounting boss 36 are carried on the end of an arm 42which is pivoted intermediate its end in a bracket 43. At the free endof the arm 42 is a microswitch 44 electrically connected to the maindrive for the apparatus. In the event of a wire not entering the bore ofthe tube 25 pressure will be exerted thereon and the arm 42 will pivotto operate the micro switch to stop the machine when faulty wire feedoccurs thereby preventing damage both to the wire and the feed means.

The pulley is provided with a slot 45 through which its axle 46 passesin order that its position can be adjusted to tension or slacken thebelt 19. A locknut 47 is used to retain the pulley 20 in position afteradjustment.

in operation when dealing with relatively fine strands such as wire ofthe order of 0.020 or less the rigidity of the wire is low and bunchingor tangling may occur in the tube 25, especially on starting up andbefore the centrifugal forces are generated in the strand by therotation of the flyer 18. A fluid under pressure, supplied to the jets39 generates a partial vacuum at the entry to the tube and by frictionon the wire applies a tension thereto. The fluid, whether gaseous orliquid, operates as a fluid bearing to centralize the wire in the tube,or at least keep it away from actual contact with the inner wallthereof. The jet assistance may in some cases be discontinued afterstarting up or at least its intensity may be reduced but will preferablybe restored in the event of stoppage to avoid bunching of the wireduring deceleration of the flyer 18.

Obviously, the jets 39 can be employed where cooling or the applicationof a lubricant or other such operation is to be effected during winding.

In order to enable the container to be moved for replacement withoutstopping the machine, that is in the case in which the wire is not to becut, a means is provided for storing the coiled wire while a fullcontainer is replaced by an empty one. The means is shown in FIG. 1 andconsists in providing a series of arms 50 mounted on axles 51 themselvescarried by the machine frame 29. The arms 50 are secured to the axles 51and are so arranged that in an inoperative position they are directedaway from the center of the coils formed by the rotation of the flyer l8and outside the area defined by the top of the container 30, to allowthe wire coils as they are formed to fall between the flyer l8 and thecontainer 30. When, however, it is desired to remove the container 30the arms 50 are pivoted into an operative position by means of a chain(or belt) and pulley drive referred to below, to extend towards the axisof rotation of the flyer i8 collectively to form a cradle upon whichcoils of wire can collect whilst the towards container 30 is beingreplaced by an empty container. The bell 27 serves to prevent the coilsof wire from becoming entangled in the center of the stack of coils asthey build up on the arms 50. To enable the arms 50 to move together theaxles 51 are each provided with a chain sprocket 52 around which passesa chain (not shown). When the chain is driven in one direction itrotates the sprockets 52 to turn the axles 51 and thus pivot the arms 50collectively to cause the arms to assume an operative position extendingtowards the axis of the bell 27 and when the chain is driven in theopposite direction will cause the arms 50 to return to the inoperativeposition. The ring 28 serves to prevent coils of wire on the arms 50from falling therefrom as a stack is built up.

lclaim:

1. Apparatus for coiling a wire including a container, a delivery meansfor delivering the wire substantially vertically downwardly at apredetermined lineal speed, a tubular flyer, a means for rotating saidflyer about a vertical axis below said delivery means, an upper regionof said flyer being straight and having a vertically disposed axis aboutwhich it rotates, said upper region of said flyer being arranged toreceive said wire, a delivery end of said flyer displaced from the axisof rotation of said flyer and spaced from said axis of rotation at adistance less than the mean radius of the coil to be formed, saiddistance being less than the distance between said axis and the innerwall of said container, the delivery end of said flyer having a downwardinclination and being directed rearwardly relative to the direction ofrotation of said flyer, and a smooth continuously curved section of saidflyer being disposed between said straight substantially vertical upperre gion and said delivery end.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 including fluid flow means associatedwith said flyer and arranged so as to tension said wire as it leavessaid flyer.

3. Apparatus according to claim 2 including a guide associated with saidfluid flow means to assist in feeding said wire to said flyer and toapply tension to said wire as it emerges from said flyer.

4. Apparatus according to claim 3 in which said guide comprises a guidetube adjacent said flyer and between it and said delivery means for saidwire, a boss on said guide tube, an

inner core in said boss, angularly positioned fluid jets in said innercore, an outer cap between which and said inner core is formed anannular chamber to receive fluid from an external source, said fluidjets communicating with a wire passage in said guide.

5. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 including means for delivering saidwire at a predetermined lineal speed substantially verticallydownwardly, said upper region of said flyer being located below saidmeans for delivering said wire to receive said wire substantiallytangentially from said means for delivering said wire.

6. Apparatus according to claim 1 in which said delivery end of saidflyer has a downward inclination from the horizontal of between and 30so as positively to eject said wire with a downward component ofmovement relative to the horizontal.

7. Apparatus according to claim 1 in which said delivery end of saidflyer is at a radius of between 0.4 and 0.6 of the mean radius of thecoil to be formed.

8. Apparatus according to claim 1 in which said smooth continuouslycurved section of said flyer is so formed as to terminate in an endsection which lies at an angle of approximately 110 to said straightsubstantially vertically disposed upper region of said flyer.

9. Apparatus according to claim 1 in which the extreme end of saiddelivery end of said flyer is at an angle of approximately 25 to aradial line extending from said axis of rotation towards said extremeend of said flyer, said extreme end of said flyer being directed awayfrom the direction of rotation of said flyer.

10. Apparatus for coiling a wire including a delivery means fordelivering the wire substantially vertically downwardly at apredetermined lineal speed, a tubular flyer, a means for rotating saidflyer about a vertical axis below said delivery means, an upper regionof said flyer being straight and having a vertically disposed axis aboutwhich it rotates, said upper region of said flyer being arranged toreceive said wire, a delivery end of said flyer displaced from the axisof rotation of said flyer and spaced from said axis at a radius ofbetween 0.4 and 0.6 of a mean radius of a coil to be formed, thedelivery end of said flyer having a downward inclination of between 15and 30 from the horizontal and having its extreme end directed away fromthe direction of rotation of the flyer at an angle of approximately 25to a radial line extending from the axis of said flyer towards saidextreme end of said flyer, and a smooth continuously curved section ofsaid flyer so formed as to terminate in an end section which lies at anangle of approximately ll0 to said straight substantially verticallydisposed upper region of said flyer, said smooth continuously curvedsection being disposed between said straight substantially verticalupper region and said delivery end.

11. Apparatus according to claim 10 including fluid flow meansassociated with said flyer and arranged so as to tension said wire as itleaves said flyer.

12. Apparatus according to claim 1 including a container to receive saidwire, means for causing said container to move bodily in such mannerthat its longitudinal axis follows an orbital path about the axis ofrotation of the flyer to cause convolutions of wire to become packed inrosette form.

13. Apparatus according to claim 10 including a container to receivesaid wire, means for causing said container to move bodily in suchmanner that its longitudinal axis follows an orbital path about the axisof rotation of the flyer thus to cause convolutions of wire to becomepacked in rosette form.

14. Apparatus according to claim 5 in which the means for deliveringsaid wire to said flyer comprises a wheel and a belt passing over partof the periphery thereof, the wheel and belt serving to grip the wirepassing therebetween, and a guide tube located tangentially of saidwheel arranged to receive said wire from said wheel and belt.

15. Apparatus according to claim 10 in which the means for deliveringsaid wire to said flyer comprises a wheel and a belt passing over partof the periphery thereof, the wheel and belt serving to grip the wirepassing therebetween, and a guide tube located tangentially of saidwheel arranged to receive said wire from said wheel and belt.

1. Apparatus for coiling a wire including a container, a delivery means for delivering the wire substantially vertically downwardly at a predetermined lineal speed, a tubular flyer, a means for rotating said flyer about a vertical axis below said delivery means, an upper region of said flyer being straight and having a vertically disposed axis about which it rotates, said upper region of said flyer being arranged to receive said wire, a delivery end of said flyer displaced from the axis of rotation of said flyer and spaced from said axis of rotation at a distance less than the mean radius of the coil to be formed, said distance being less than the distance between said axis and the inner wall of said container, the delivery end of said flyer having a downward inclination and being directed rearwardly relative to the direction of rotation of said flyer, and a smooth continuously curved section of said flyer being disposed between said straight substantially vertical upper region and said delivery end.
 2. Apparatus according to claim 1 including fluid flow means associated with said flyer and arranged so as to tension said wire as it leaves said flyer.
 3. Apparatus according to claim 2 including a guide associated with said fluid flow means to assist in feeding said wire to said flyer and to apply tension to said wire as it emerges from said flyer.
 4. Apparatus according to claim 3 in which said guide comprises a guide tube adjacent said flyer and between it and said delivery means for said wire, a boss on said guide tube, an inner core in said boss, angularly positioned fluid jets in said inner core, an outer cap between which and said inner core is formed an annular chamber to receive fluid from an external source, said fluid jets communicating with a wire passage in said guide.
 5. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 including means for delivering said wire at a predetermined lineal speed substantially vertically downwardly, said upper region of said flyer being located below said means for delivering said wire to receive said wire substantially tangentially from said means for delivering said wire.
 6. Apparatus according to claim 1 in which said delivery end of said flyer has a downward inclination from the horizontal of between 15* and 30* so as positively to eject said wire with a downward component of movement relative to the horizontal.
 7. Apparatus according to claim 1 in which said delivery end of said flyer is at a radius of between 0.4 and 0.6 of the mean radius of the coil to be formed.
 8. Apparatus according to claim 1 in which said smooth continuously curved section of said flyer is so formed as to termInate in an end section which lies at an angle of approximately 110* to said straight substantially vertically disposed upper region of said flyer.
 9. Apparatus according to claim 1 in which the extreme end of said delivery end of said flyer is at an angle of approximately 25* to a radial line extending from said axis of rotation towards said extreme end of said flyer, said extreme end of said flyer being directed away from the direction of rotation of said flyer.
 10. Apparatus for coiling a wire including a delivery means for delivering the wire substantially vertically downwardly at a predetermined lineal speed, a tubular flyer, a means for rotating said flyer about a vertical axis below said delivery means, an upper region of said flyer being straight and having a vertically disposed axis about which it rotates, said upper region of said flyer being arranged to receive said wire, a delivery end of said flyer displaced from the axis of rotation of said flyer and spaced from said axis at a radius of between 0.4 and 0.6 of a mean radius of a coil to be formed, the delivery end of said flyer having a downward inclination of between 15* and 30* from the horizontal and having its extreme end directed away from the direction of rotation of the flyer at an angle of approximately 25* to a radial line extending from the axis of said flyer towards said extreme end of said flyer, and a smooth continuously curved section of said flyer so formed as to terminate in an end section which lies at an angle of approximately 110* to said straight substantially vertically disposed upper region of said flyer, said smooth continuously curved section being disposed between said straight substantially vertical upper region and said delivery end.
 11. Apparatus according to claim 10 including fluid flow means associated with said flyer and arranged so as to tension said wire as it leaves said flyer.
 12. Apparatus according to claim 1 including a container to receive said wire, means for causing said container to move bodily in such manner that its longitudinal axis follows an orbital path about the axis of rotation of the flyer to cause convolutions of wire to become packed in rosette form.
 13. Apparatus according to claim 10 including a container to receive said wire, means for causing said container to move bodily in such manner that its longitudinal axis follows an orbital path about the axis of rotation of the flyer thus to cause convolutions of wire to become packed in rosette form.
 14. Apparatus according to claim 5 in which the means for delivering said wire to said flyer comprises a wheel and a belt passing over part of the periphery thereof, the wheel and belt serving to grip the wire passing therebetween, and a guide tube located tangentially of said wheel arranged to receive said wire from said wheel and belt.
 15. Apparatus according to claim 10 in which the means for delivering said wire to said flyer comprises a wheel and a belt passing over part of the periphery thereof, the wheel and belt serving to grip the wire passing therebetween, and a guide tube located tangentially of said wheel arranged to receive said wire from said wheel and belt. 